Aligning means for well equipment



Dec. 6, 1960 R. c. COLE ETAL ALIGNING MEANS FOR WELL EQUIPMENT Filed Dec; 15, 1958 mmmw- MIMI!" kllumlllllfl-lll lt-llllllllllll HIIWIIIMWWM .lllmllllllllllflllllllmllll INVENTORS. RICHARD c. COLE. FRANK 'r. FOCHT, BY

ATTO N Y.

United States Patent ALIGNING MEANS FOR WELL EQUIPMENT Richard C. Cole, Houston, and Frank T. Focht, Bellaire,

Tex., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Jersey Production Research Company, Tulsa, Okla, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 780,455

10 Claims. (Cl. 166--85) The present invention is directed to a centralizer for aligning one piece of well equipment with another piece of well equipment. More particularly the invention is concerned with a centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a casing head of a well. In its more specific aspects the invention is concerned with a centralizer for a blowout preventer which prevents lateral movement during lowering and placing of the blowout preventer.

The present invention may be briefly described as a centralizer for aligning one piece of well equipment such as a blowout preventer with another piece of well equipment such as a casing head in which a plate member is provided with an elongated member attached at its base to one side of the plate member. The elongated member may form horizontally spaced apart fin members, the elongated member being formed such that its free end is of a lesser cross sectional dimension than the base and being adapted for insertion into the openings of the well equipment such as the opening in a blowout preventer and the casing head. The plate member is formed with bolt holes for attachment of the plate member releasably to the well equipment such as a blowout preventer and means are attached to the plate member for lowering and raising the centralizer.

The elongated member may suitably be a tubular member having one end attached to one side of the plate member with its free end shaped in the form of a bullet. Arranged on the tubular member are horizontally and vertically spaced apart fin members. The fin members may be arranged in pairs with the fin members horizontally spaced apart approximately 90. The fin members may be inwardly tapering. While four or more fin members may be used, at least three are required when the device is formed with fins. Likewise, the fins may be spaced apart different distances depending on the number used.

The present invention will be further illustrated by reference to the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows the centralizer of the present invention arranged in a blowout preventer;

Fig. 2 shows the invention centralizing the blowout preventer on a casing head;

Figs. 3 and 4 are views of a modification of the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a modification of the embodiment of Figs. 3'

and 4;

Fig. 6 is a view of a preferred embodiment; and

Fig. 7 is a modification of the device of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, numeral 11 designates a blowout preventer having a central opening 12. The blowout preventer is provided with opposite flanges 13 and 14 on which threaded studs 15 and 16 oppositely extend respectively. On lowering the blowout preventer 11 onto the casing head 17 of a well casing 18, the device of the present invention illustrated generally by the numeral 19 is placed in the opening 12 with its free end protruding therefrom. The centralizer of the present invention is comprised of a plate member 20 having peripherally arranged bolt holes 21 and having an elongated member 22 attached to one side of the plate member 20. The elongated member 22 is a tubular member having a bullet nose such as 23 and is provided with a plurality of horizontally and vertically spaced apart fins 24 and 25, the fins 24 and 25 being spaced apart circumferentially approximately 90 with the fins 24 being of greater diameter than the diameter of the fins 25. It is to be noted that the fins 24 are formed with tapering surfaces 26 and 27 and the fins 25 have tapering surfaces 28 and 29. The fins 25 have a lesser crosssectional dimension than the fins 24 for passage through a blowout preventer and for insertion into a well casing. It is to be further noted that the plate 20 is provided with a lifting eye 30 which is arranged on the side of the plate 20 opposite the side where the elongated member 22 is arranged.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the centralizer generally indicated by the numeral 19 has been lowered with the blowout preventer 11 such that the centralizer is arranged both in the opening 12 of the blowout preventer 11 and the opening or passage 31 the casing head 17 and well casing 18. In other words, the centralizer 19 allows the blowout preventer 11 to be lowered directly onto the casing head 17 such that by rotating the blowout preventer 11 the threaded studs 16 may be aligned with the bolt holes 32 of the casing head 17 and the blowout preventer attached thereto by the nuts 33. Once the blowout preventer 11 is attached to the casing head 17 as had been described, the nuts 34 attaching the centralizer 19 to the blowout preventer 11 are released and the centralizer 19 is then lifted from the blowout preventer 11 by the lifting eye 30.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, a modification of Figs. 1 and 2 is described. In Fig. 3 a plate member 40 is provided with a lifting eye 41 attached to one side thereof and to the other side of the plate member 40 there is attached an elongated member 42 comprised of inwardly tapering fins 43 and 44 arranged inthe shape of a cross as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. The plate member 40 is provided with peripherally arranged bolt holes 45 for connecting releasably the plate member 40 to well equipment such as a blowout preventer 11. It is to be noted that the fins 43 and 44 are inwardly tapering such that the elongated member 42 is insertable through the opening 12 of a blowout preventer such as 11 and into the passageway or opening 31 of a casing head and well casing such as 17 and 18 for guiding a blowout preventer 11 onto the casing head as had been described. The present invention is quite important and useful and suitably may be used in placing a blowout preventer in a confined space such as in a chamber enclosing a casing head on a water bottom. In operation,

the blowout preventer-is suspended above the Well head such as the casing head 17 and the centralizer such as 19 of the present invention is lowered into the blowout preventer. The flange or plate 20 of the centralizer is bolted to the top flange of the blowout preventer such as 13 with 3 or 4 bolts. In this position, the centralizer 19 is sticking through the blowout preventer 11 with about half its length below the blowout preventer 11. The blowout preventer is then lowered and the nose of the centralizer 19 enters the well head or casing head 17. When the blowout preventer 19 is approximately 8 inches or so from the casing head, the centralizer is 7 done is to rotate the blowout preventer in a horizontal.

plane to line up the bolt holes with. the studs and finish Patented Dec. 6, 1960- lowering the blowout preventer. After the blowout preventer has been secured to the casing head, the centralizer is then removed by lifting it up through the blowout preventer by means of the lifting eye such as 30.

Referring now to. Fig. 5 a plate member 50 has an elongated member 51 attached to it on one side formed of plates 52 and 53 of constant greater width for approximately half of their lengths next to the plate member 50 and diminishing to a lesser but a constant width adjacent the free end. It is to be noted that plates 52 and 53 have tapers 55 and 56 and tapers 57 and 58 which facilitate entry into the well equipment for aligning one piece thereof with another. An eye member 59 attached to plate 50 serves to lower and raise the embodiment of Fig. 5 while bolt holes 50a are employed to attach the plate member 50 to a blowout preventer 11 such as shown on Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 6, which is a preferred embodiment, a plate member 60 with peripheral bolt holes 61 has attached to one side thereof an elongated swaged member 62 formed of an upper section 63 of greater dimension than the lower section 64. Section 63 has a tapered surface 65 while the free end 66 of section 64 is formed by a tapered surface 67. The tapered surfaces 65 and 66 facilitate entry and use of the device in aligning well equipment as one piece is lowered on or raised from another.

The embodiment of Fig. 7 is similar to the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 with the omission of the fins 25 and accordingly similar numerals designate identical parts in Figs. 1, 2, and 7 and further description thereof is not required.

The embodiments of Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are used in alignment of well equipment similarly to the embodiments of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

As stated, the device has particular use in underwater well completion operations such as described in pending aplication Serial Number 629,878, now Patent No. 2,906,500, filed December 21, 1956, for J. D. Moore, R. P. Knapp, and Mercer H. Parks, and entitled Completion of Wells Under Water. The invention is particularly useful in a method for handling well equipment such as blowout preventers in a well completion operation such as described in pending application Serial Number 629,878, and also in a method as described in pending application Serial Number 780,454, entitled Handling of Well Equipment, filed December 15, 1958, for F. T. Focht and J. R. Sims. 7

A blowout preventer such as described in Figs. 1 and 2 has been constructed and used successfully in centering a blowout preventer. The centralizer had an overall dimension of 5 feet for the length of the tubular member such as 22 excepting the nose. The plate member 20 had a diameter of approximately 24 inches and was provided with twenty 1 /2 inch diameter holes to receive 1% inch threaded studs on the blowout preventer. The upper fins 24 were approximately 30 inches in length and /2 inch thick and inch protrusion from the tubular member 22. These upper and lower fins were each 4 in number and were spaced approximately 90 apart.

The lower fins 25 were approximately 18 inches long, /2 inch in thickness and protruded about inch from the tubular member 22. All the surfaces of the fins were ground to make a smooth surface for easy passage through the openings 12 and 31 such that the surfaces of the blowout preventer would not be damaged and neither would the borehole of the casing head 17.

The present invention is quite advantageous and useful in aligning one piece of well equipment with another such as a blowout preventer with a well head.

The nature and objects of the present invention having been completely described and illustrated, what we wish to claim as new and useful and secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A centralizer for aligning one piece of well equip ment with another, said well equipment having central openings, which comprises a plate member, an elongated member attached at one end to one side of said plate member and being formed such that its free end has a cross sectional dimension less than that of the one end, said elongated member being adapted for insertion into the openings in said pieces of well equipment, said plate member being formed with holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said one piece of said well equipment and means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said elongated member being of sufiicient length to extend through said one piece of well equipment whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said another piece of well equipment.

2. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a well casing, said blowout preventer and well casing having central openings, which comprises a plate member, an elongated member attached at one end to one side of said plate member and having a surface forming circumferentially spaced-apart fin members with the free end of said elongated member having a cross sectional dimension less than that of the one end, said elongated member being adapted for insertion into the openings in said blowout preventer and said well casing, said plate member being formed with bolt holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer and means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said elongated member being of sufiicient length to extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said well casing.

3. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a well casing, said blowout preventer and well casing having central openings, which comprises a plate member, an elongated member attached at one end to one side of said plate member, means attached to said elongated member forming circumferentially and vertically spaced-apart fin members, the free end of said elongated member having a cross sectional dimension less than that of the one end, said elongated member being adapted for insertion into the openings in said blowout preventer and said well casing, said plate member being formed with bolt holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer, and eye means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said elongated member being of sufificient length to extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said well casing.

4. A centralizer in accordance with claim 3 in which the elongated member is a tubular member having a bullet-shaped nose.

5. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventerwith a well casing, said blowout preventer and well casing having central openings, which comprises a plate member, a tubular 'memb'er attached at one end to one side of said plate member, circumferentially and vertically spaced-apart fin members on said tubular member, said elongated memher having a free end adapted for insertion into the openings in said blowout preventer and said well casing, said plate member being formed with bolt holes for attach ment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer, and eye means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said spaced apart fin members being spaced approximately apart on said tubular member and said fin members being arranged in pairs with the pair most adjacent the free end of said tubular member having a dimension in cross section less than the dimension in cross section of the other pair, the free end of said tubular member having a bullet shape, said elongated member being of suflicient length to'extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said well casing.

6. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a well casing at one end, said blowout preventer and said well casing having central openings, which comprises a circular plate member, an elongated tubular member attached at one end to said plate member, first and second pairs of circumferentially and vertically spaced-apart fin members on said tubular member, said elongated member having a free end adapted for insertion into the openings in said blowout preventer and said well casing, said plate member being formed with peripheral bolt holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer and eye means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said first pair of fin members being adjacent the plate member and being dimensioned for insertion in the opening in said blowout preventer but of greater dimension than said well casing and said second pair of fin members being dimensioned for passage through said blowout preventer and for insertion in said well casing, said elongated member being of suflicient length to extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said well casing.

7. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a well casing, said blowout preventer and well casing having central openings, which comprises a circular plate member, a cross-shaped elongated member attached at one end to one side of said plate member forming in wardly tapering circumferentially spaced-apart fin members, said elongated member having a free end adapted for insertion into the opening of said well casing, said plate member being formed with peripheral bolt holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer, and means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said elongated member being of sufficient length to extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said well casing.

8. A centralizer in accordance with claim 7 in which the fin members are spaced approximately 90 apart.

9. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a well casing, said blowout preventer and well casing having central openings, which comprises a circular plate member, a cross-shaped elongated member attached at one end to one side of said plate member having surfaces forming circumferentially spaced-apart fin members having a greater cross-sectional dimension adjacent said plate member and a lesser cross-sectional dimension adjacent the free end of said elongated member and being adapted for insertion into said well casing, said plate member being formed with peripheral bolt holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer, and means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said elongated member being of sufficient length to extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said one end will engage said well casing.

10. A centralizer for aligning a blowout preventer with a well casing, said blowout preventer and well casing having central openings, which comprises a plate member, an elongated swaged tubular member attached at one end to one side of said plate member having a cross sectional dimension on its free end less than the cross sectional dimension of its base and being adapted for insertion into the openings in said blowout preventer and said Well casing, said plate member being formed with bolt holes for attachment of said plate member releasably to said blowout preventer, and means attached to the other side of said plate member adapted to be engaged for lowering and raising said centralizer, said elongated member being of suflicient length to extend through said blowout preventer whereby the free end opposite said 7 one end will engage said well casing. 

